Born Ruth Rizzo on Staten Island, she was a graduate of Port Richmond High School.

A resident of Bulls Head until 1961, she also lived in Middletown and Brick, both in New Jersey, before relocating to Belmar, N.J., in 1992.

She was a parishioner of St. Rose R.C. Church in Belmar, where she was active in the church’s Altar Rosary Society. She was also a member of the Belmar Women’s Club and past president of the Ladies Auxiliary at Old Village Fire Company, Middletown.

An exceptional baker who loved to sing in her church choir, Mrs. DeCristofaro was a former parishioner of Our Lady of Pity R.C. Church, Bulls Head.

She won the New Jersey Pick Six Lottery in 1993, and later frequently recalled a favorite phrase: “You gotta be in it to win it.”

Her husband, Salvatore DeCristofaro, died in 1987.

Surviving are two sons, Joseph and Anthony; a daughter, Anna Halton-Yaschur; three sisters, Helen Landi, Marie Ponterio and Dorothy Downes, and five grandchildren.

The funeral will be tomorrow from the Orender Family Home for Funerals, Manasquan, N.J., with a mass at 10 a.m. St. Rose Church. Burial will follow in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Middletown, N.J.